The bill increases the penalties for convicted child abusers to a Class D felony and requires their official record show that the abused was younger than 16 years of age. Before this law, child abuse was classified as domestic violence on official records.
"It is our duty to protect North Carolina's children to the best of our abilities," said McCrory. "It is my hope that Kilah's Law will help stop child abuse in our state. I'd like to thank our legislators for coming together to work on such a necessary bill. I especially want to recognize Kilah and her family for their support of this legislation and thank the Davenports for allowing Kilah to represent such a meaningful law."
Kilah's Law is named after 4-year-old Kilah Davenport, a child brutally abused while in her step-father's care. Kilah suffered serious brain damage, a fractured skull, a broken collarbone and other injuries as a result of the attack in 2012.
Her step-father, Joshua Houser, is currently in the Union County Jail awaiting trial.
Kilah survived the attack. She and her family joined Governor McCrory along with lawmakers for the bill signing Wednesday afternoon.
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